Judy: The fda has announced
nearly 800,000 more doses of a
vaccine for monkeypox could be
available by the end of the
month.
It comes amid criticism over the
Biden administration's response
to this outbreak.
William brangham has the latest.
William: Judy, over a thousand
cases of monkeypox have been
recorded in more than 40 states
across the U.S.
Though experts believe that's a
serious undercount of the real
number.
The monkeypox virus spreads
through close skin-to-skin
contact and its symptoms include
extremely painful lesions that
can last for weeks.
States are grappling with a
rising demand for testing,
treatment and those vaccines,
which have been in short supply.
For more on this outbreak, I'm
joined by David Harvey, he's
director of the national
coalition of STD directors.
David Harvey, great to have you
on the newshour.
Monkeypox is not technically an
STD, but we know it is passed by
sex and sex like content.
STD clinics are at the forefront
of this.
Can you give us a sense of what
they are dealing with right now?
>> Thank you for having me.
Our system is severely burdened
by this latest outbreak.
We're defining this as a
sexually associated infection.
We know there is a vast
undercount of cases because of
slow rollout of testing with
vaccines and treatment presents
problems too.
But the nations STD clinics are
bearing the burden of responding
to monkeypox.
There is no federal funding,
believe it or not, for STD
outbreaks in America.
So this latest outbreak is very
burdensome on an already
overstretched network of safety
net providers.
William: We know that gay men
and other men who have sex with
men have been the principal
number of cases thus far.
Is it your sense that the
prevention and outreach and
education campaigns, is the
message getting out?
David: Not well.
We are starting to see a serious
ramping up of education efforts.
Unfortunately, there is some
reminiscence of our experiences
with covid.
It's not the same, but we have
had a slow, sluggish response.
In the last two weeks, there has
been very significant progress
made, working hard on this at
the white house level, at CDC
and within the federal
department of health and human
services.
But there is no doubt we need to
be much more directly and
exclusively educating those who
are at highest risk of
monkeypox.
And that is gay men and other
men who have sex with men.
William: You mentioned that the
administration has been stepping
up its efforts as of late.
There has been a good deal of
criticism for the sluggish
response, as you describe it.
Is the criticism fair?
Have they been slow off the
mark?
David: Some of the criticism is
fair.
People are dealing with this
through a covid lens that may or
may not be fair, actually.
This is a different type of
infection.
The public health system has
been strained.
We know covid revealed that this
latest infectious disease
outbreak is also revealing the
fact that we don't have an
adequate public health system
and it comes to dealing with
sexually transmitted infections.
Even though monkeypox is not
technically regarded as a
sexually transmitted infection,
it is sexually associated, so it
is -- the public health sector
which is vastly underfunded in
America is being asked to
respond, which is why we need to
increase funding for the system.
William: 800,000 additional
vaccines will be coming.
Are they effective and will they
get to the people who most need
them?
David: We're hearing very good
information about the
effectiveness of this vaccine.
There is a lot of confusion
about it, though.
It does take about six weeks to
develop immunity.
It is a two shot course of an --
injections.
This is very good news, there is
additional vaccine that hasn't
been secured, but it is still
probably not enough.
The administration is even
ramping up further in terms of
ordering additional courses of
vaccine beyond the 800,000.
That will be available in July.
William so in addition to the
: Shortage of vaccines, we know
that there has been not enough
testing and not enough
treatments available.
I mean, on some level, does it
feel like that this has been an
inequitable response to this
outbreak?
David well, unfortunately, I
: Think there has been an
inequitable response, limited
vaccines.
Limited testing means that
essentially we have a ration
system around the United States
and those who have best access
to social media.
And websites are learning about
the availability of particularly
vaccines.
So one of the problems we're
facing in the us is ensuring
that there is an equitable
access to vaccines and testing
and that is going to strain our
system for the coming months.
William all right, David hardy,
: Director of the national
coalition of STD directors,
thank you so much.
David: Thank you.